Source: Marino resigned while under review

Former U.S. attorney's departure ended Justice Department probe into his DeNaples gaming referral.

October 01, 2010|By Matt Birkbeck, OF THE MORNING CALL

Former U.S. Attorney Thomas Marino resigned during an internal U.S. Department of Justice investigation into a reference letter he wrote to help Louis DeNaples get a casino license.

According to a person familiar with the matter, Marino was probed by the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility for allegedly violating several department guidelines. Instead, Marino stepped down, and his resignation ended the probe.

Such internal investigations are automatic.

Marino, a Republican who took a $250,000-a-year job with DeNaples as an in-house attorney after leaving his government job, now is seeking the 10th District congressional seat held by Democrat Chris Carney. Marino left his job with DeNaples to run for Congress.

The race has drawn national attention, and the referral has become a campaign issue. Marino last spring said he had received written permission from the Justice Department to help DeNaples. When Carney asked Marino to make the permission document public, Marino declined, saying he is not authorized to release "documents related to my service as United States attorney."

A Justice Department spokeswoman, however, last week confirmed an Associated Press report that Marino never received permission for the referral.

According to the source who spoke to The Morning Call, Marino's assistants in the Middle District in Harrisburg were investigating DeNaples when they learned in 2006 of Marino's 2005 referral letter. The assistants reported it to Justice Department officials in Washington, who recused the entire Middle District from DeNaples investigations. One probe, over alleged improprieties involving the sale of trucks flooded during Hurricane Katrina, was referred to the U.S. attorney's office in Binghamton, N.Y.

At the same time, following Justice Department rules, investigators began their internal probe of Marino. The Morning Call, citing sources, in August 2007 reported Marino's reference for DeNaples and that Marino would resign. Marino, who initially denied he was stepping down, quit as U.S. attorney in October 2007.

According to the U.S. attorneys manual, Marino was required to inform the Justice Department's Office of the General Counsel about the referral letter he wrote for DeNaples. Marino did not do that, a Justice spokesman said.

The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, which investigates alleged internal wrongdoing, is called in when there is "evidence and non-frivolous allegations of serious misconduct by department attorneys that relate to the exercise of their authority to investigate, litigate, or provide legal advice," according to the manual.